Wal-Mart Scoffs At Recession

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, is one of the only stores to thrive during the U.S. recession.

On Thursday, the company announced sales in February for stores open at least one year, a key indicator of a retailer's health. Its same-store sales rose 5.1%, above analyst expectations of 2.4%, and it announced that it raise its dividend to $1.09 per share, up 14.7% from 95 cents per share.

Wal-Mart
has been doing better than most of its direct competitors like
Target
, which announced a 4.1% decline in February same-store sales, and other discount retailers like
BJ's Wholesale Club
and
Costco Wholesale
. (See "Discounts Stores Need To Keep An Eye On Margins.")

"We believe falling gas prices significantly boosted household disposable income in February and therefore allowed for both more trips and more spending toward discretionary categories," said Vice-Chairman Eduardo Castro-Wright.

Shares of Wal-Mart gained 2.7%, or $1.33, to $49.82, on Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, several of the clothing retailers that reported February same-store sales were mixed.
Abercrombie & Fitch
dropped 15.9%, or $3.32, to $17.61, while
Aeropostale
was up 0.2%, or 5 cents, to $23.16.

Teen retailer Abercrombie said February total sales fell 23.8%, to $174.5 million, from $228.9 million. At its eponymous brand stores, same-store sales fell 27.0%, while its abercrombie brand outlet sales dipped 34.0% and its Hollister and Ruehl sales shrank 33.0%.

Aeropostale reported a February total sales increase of 22.3%, to $109.9 million. Its same-store sales increased 11.0% during the month, compared with a 7.05 increased in the year-prior.